


and my heart is set on you

by perksofbeingaiko



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M, Robron Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-07 23:42:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14092287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perksofbeingaiko/pseuds/perksofbeingaiko
Summary: He felt Robert nudge him gently when it was his turn to hand over their entry tickets, and he was reminded how happy he was to have some time alone with Robert, at least. They hadn’t had much time to themselves outside their bedroom, and even then it was met with the ticking clock reminding them that the day was starting, with or without them.Or, Aaron and Robert’s day at the theme park on May 30, 2016





	and my heart is set on you

Aaron shifted his weight on his heels as he waited for the queue to move along through the turnstile, forcing himself not to check his phone for updates from Liv. She said she was fine, that she had _plans_ , and Aaron had to trust her. But he had only just gotten to know her again for the first time in years, and he couldn’t help but worry about her.

He had planned this day to be something he, Robert, and Liv could bond over. Some mindless fun on a couple rollercoasters and playing dodgy booth games to get their minds off the realities of their lives, but then again, he couldn’t expect his teenage sister to _want_ to hang out with her brother and his 30 year old boyfriend. Not when she had friends of her own.

But still, he wished she was here.

He felt Robert nudge him gently when it was his turn to hand over their entry tickets, and he was reminded how happy he was to have some time alone with Robert, at least. They hadn’t had much time to themselves outside their bedroom, and even then it was met with the ticking clock reminding them that the day was starting, with or without them.

Aaron was going to embrace the day with Robert and let the theme park take them away with all of its flashing lights and overly loud chatter. It wasn’t much of a theme park, _per se_ , as there wasn’t much of a running theme throughout the park, but it had all the makings of one, and it was good enough for Aaron.

“Right then, where to first?” Robert asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking around the main entrance. There were families with kids scattered about and groups of teenagers dragging each other along, but there were a fair amount of adults there without children, and Aaron was relieved. It’s not that he thought it’d be weird, but it was still nice to know it wasn’t just for kids.

“I’m not bothered,” Aaron answered, and followed Robert over to the directory that mapped out the park.

“Definitely not,” Robert said as he pointed to the picture of one of those drop tower rides that boasted a 90 ft. drop.

“What? Come on, you scared of it?” Aaron teased. A couple of kids ran up to the map with their mother trailing behind and started talking over each other as they pointed and gawped at the different rides, and Robert and Aaron took it as their cue to start walking.

“I’m not _scared_ of it, I just don’t see the fun in free falling for the sake of it,” Robert countered as they made their way to the west side of the park. “How about this one, then?” he asked, nodding his head up to an inverter ride emblazoned with the name _Berserk!_ on its side. The queue for it wasn’t too long considering the time of day, and it was as good a place as any to start.

The afternoon passed by in a string of queues to two minute rides that left Robert’s hair in disarray and Aaron with flushed cheeks, both of them wobbly-legged as they made their way to new queues. They’d stopped for food at some point - greasy fried meals that left them a bit sick but made no point in stopping them – and by 3:00 PM they were stumbling out of the dodgems, necks and lower backs a bit sore from targeting only each other in a sea of teenagers and parents having their first bit of fun all day.

“Told you I’d win,” Robert gloated, pointing his thumb back at the dodgems with a full smile and excited eyes.

“Hardly. Plus, there’s no ‘winning’ in dodgems,” Aaron scoffed.

“You’re only saying that because _I won_ ,” Robert said as he put his arm over Aaron’s shoulders as they walked, tugging Aaron in and guiding them away from the rides and toward the line of booths with the operators calling out promises of prizes and fun for just a few quid, but Aaron was preoccupied with other thoughts.

Because this was new.

He and Robert had only been officially together for a few months and it still filled Aaron with something akin to giddiness when Robert showed his affection out in the open for anyone to see. Around their village, every touch felt loaded, something to be read into by the people who knew their histories and kept versions of Aaron and Robert in their minds, piecing what they saw to what they thought they knew of them.

But it also felt safe.

The villagers might read into every look, but Aaron knew that it could never stem anything more dangerous than gossip. Not like this, in a public place where any person they passed could hold opinions that could lead to intent if they saw something they didn’t agree with.

This wasn’t something Aaron wanted to shy away from. He and Robert had wasted too much time because of what other people might think, and he would not let himself be the one to get jumpy when Robert reached out to hold him or touch him. He let his shoulders relax and moved in sync with Robert toward the game booths, and he thought to himself.

_Will I ever get used to this?_

A part of him, the one that craved the excitement and thrill only Robert could bring to his life, hoped that he never would. He wanted to be surprised by Robert always.

But a bigger part of him, the part that had dreamed about creating a life with Robert long before words of love dared to touch his tongue, hoped that the feel of Robert’s arm slung around him would become second nature. That maybe, one day, he’d be able to walk down the street with him with his arm wrapped around Robert’s waist and not think twice.

Today wasn’t that day, but he’d get there. He wanted that more than anything.

“The ring toss is a complete rip-off, but I reckon I’ll do okay at the darts,” Robert said and Aaron paused in his stride to look at his boyfriend in mock-bewilderment.

“Mate, you’re useless at darts,” Aaron laughed. Robert dropped his arm in offense and that just made Aaron laugh more. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you win a single game. Even Adam is better than you, and that’s saying something.”

“Fine, do you want to bet?” Robert challenged, and Aaron could hardly pass that up.

“Alright. Whoever gets the most balloons with the dart wins. If I win, you have to go on that free-fall ride with me,” Aaron said, pointing out toward where they could see the top of the drop tower.

Robert sighed dramatically, but nodded. “Well if I win, you have to go home and tell Liv that _I_ beat you in the dodgems.”

“Robert, there’s no winner in-”

“Do we have a deal?” Robert interrupted, putting out his hand for Aaron to shake. Robert was a bit of a nightmare when he got competitive, but Aaron wasn’t much better, so with a brief shake and a wink from Aaron, they made their way over to the balloon dart booth.

After handing over way too much money, they each got four darts. Aaron knew realistically that there was a high chance they’d both get all four darts through the balloons, but it didn’t matter. Robert was loose and laughing more than he had in a long while, and Aaron was, too. They were having _fun_ , and Aaron didn’t want it to end.

He stepped up first, and after exaggerated motions of testing his line of vision and strength of his throw, he sent his darts one by one through the balloons, throwing his hands up in victory when the last one hit and popped the balloon square on. He backed up to let Robert have his turn, yelling out, “Get on with it!” when Robert took his time to line up his shot.

Just like he thought, Robert’s balloons popped in sequence, and Aaron cheered him on, letting the excitement of the moment take him away while Robert dusted off his hands.

“Told you,” Robert gloated again, and Aaron put his hands up in surrender.

“You’re right, you are the greatest darts thrower the world has ever seen,” Aaron cooed, and had to grab onto Robert’s jacket to stop himself tripping when Robert jokingly shoved at his shoulder.

“Uh, hello?” a girl’s voice said, and they both looked over to the teenage girl manning the booth. “Sorry, it’s just you’ve got to choose a prize.”

“Oh, uh,” Aaron said, the pair of them turning to the wall of stuffed animals she pointed to. There was everything from green and purple gorillas, multicolored dolphins, and even a few Rasta bananas that Aaron was sure Robert wouldn’t appreciate but made Aaron laugh.

“What about that one?” Robert asked Aaron, pointing to the line of giant stuffed bears at the top. They were all different colors, but were generally the most “natural” looking ones they seemed to offer. “We’ll get it for Liv.”

Aaron bumped his side against Robert’s and smiled. “Yeah, she’ll love it. It’s as big as she is,” he said, nodding to the girl his approval. The bear was cream colored with a yellow bow and a smile stitched on that made it look quite cute. Aaron didn’t know much about Liv’s tastes yet, but the bear was bigger than his torso and soft to the touch. She was a teenage girl, she would probably at least keep it around in her room somewhere.

“Thank you,” he heard Robert say as he started to walk off. Robert checked his watch when he caught up to him. “It’s almost time we head back. One more ride?” he asked.

Aaron nodded but looked down at the bear. “What’re we gonna do with this one?” he asked, turning the bear’s head to look at Robert.

Robert fixed the bear’s bow as he looked around their immediate surroundings. “Ferris wheel?” he suggested, and Aaron shrugged and followed him to the queue. It was a fairly long line, but considering it was their last one, they didn’t mind the wait. They took turns holding the bear, coming up with increasingly awful names for it.

“Barry,” Aaron suggested.

“Steve _Paw_ -gers,” Robert countered and Aaron barely contained his eye roll.

“Teddy. _Theodore_.”

“Sir Barrington.”

“C’mon, that’s like Barry. Try again,” Aaron argued.

“Fine, err, Peter Paw-ker,” Robert offered and Aaron’s eyebrow rose.

“Rob, you can’t just use the same pun twice. Plus, that sounds a bit like porker, dunnit?”

“Listen-” Robert started, but by then they had finally gotten to the front of the line and the ride operator was ushering them into their gondola. The late afternoon sun was thankfully to their left and not shining directly into their faces as the wheel slowly move clockwise around, sending them backwards as they inched closer to the top.

Aaron positioned the bear to sit adjacent from them, taking advantage of the moments of privacy to sit close to his boyfriend as they looked over the tops of the food stalls and people milling about, the breeze sending a chill over Aaron. He’d regretted only wearing a long sleeved shirt, but if that meant Robert squeezed in tighter to his side, arm slung over the back of his seat to shield the wind, then he couldn’t be all that put out by it.

“It’s nice,” Robert commented as the wheel reached its peak and they were able to look out without any obstruction. With the setting sun, streaks of light bounced off the reflective mirrors of the rest of the rides and the whole park seemed to glow with sunbursts against the neon rainbow backdrop of the theme park.

Aaron scoot himself closer to Robert and tilted his chin up, asking silently for a kiss to which Robert happily complied. “Thanks for comin’ with me to this. I know I meant it for the three of us, but it was nice being able to spend with just you.”

“Well, we’ll get her on the next round,” Robert said, and Aaron let his eyes shut, the warmth in his heart and the love for his little makeshift family overwhelming him. Liv and Robert would probably never be the best of friends, but he was happy he was trying to include her in his life. Making plans for the three of them _together_.

By the time they started their drive home the sky had turned orange and pink, and Aaron could have fallen asleep right there in the passenger’s seat with his hand wrapped loosely with Robert’s, Steve Pawgers propped up happily in the backseat.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm at [strongboyfriends](http://strongboyfriends.tumblr.com/)


End file.
